Jamshedpur : The Christian communities of various churches and NGOs of the city jointly held an Easter peace rally on Monday.
The rally was taken out under the banner of Christians of Jamshedpur. The rally started from Loyola School grounds at and proceeded via the Boulevard Road to IC Road before reaching the roundabout near Gopal Maidan in Bistupur. The rally returned to the Loyola School grounds.
Rev Felix Toppo, the bishop of Jamshedpur, later delivered the Easter peace massage to the congregation of believers at the grounds. Easter Monday witnessed about 5,000 people celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The rally, titled ‘world peace and peace in the lives of people’, was organised by 45 churches and three NGOs under the banner of ‘Churches of Jamshedpur’. Members of all the churches in Jamshedpur parted in the rally.
Peter Bonnerjee, functionary of Jamshedpur Masih Seva Samiti (JNSS), one of the NGOs taking part in the rally, said: ‘This is what makes the painting all the more special, as people from three different communities have joined hands and tried their best to spread the message of world peace.’
�Easter is one such occasion when people get together. So we thought of organising this mass rally so that the true message of Easter can be spread to the maximum number of people,� said a member of the organising committee.
The rally, which started in 2006 was organised by all the 45 churches under the banner and 10 NGOs. More than 2000 people participated in the rally that started at 8:30 am. Bishop Felix Toppo led the rally and also delivered the Easter peace Rally address after the procession culminates back at Loyola School. Shishir Richard John was the team leader of the steering committee for the rally.
“Our motto has been international peace and the rally was organised so that we can for peace under the vast open sky. We invited all organisations to come and join hands with us,” said a member of the Christians of Jamshedpur.
Easter celebrations for most Christians remained an affair to be held at home. ‘Unlike Christmas, Easter is more of a homely affair and people prefer celebrating it at home,’ said an official of Beldih Church School. But revellers made a beeline to the bakeries to get their share of Easter cakes and Easter eggs.